According to Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, there has been around 200 times increase in space startups in just two years.
During the meeting, the minister mentioned that space startups have increased from 1 in 2022 to nearly 200 in 2024, witnessing an unprecedented rise of 200 times in these years. In the year 2023 alone, nearly Rs 10 billion was invested in the space sector of India in just about eight months.
He stated that this quantum jump has been possible because of a major policy decision taken by Prime Minister (PM) to open up the space sector to the private sector and allow public-private participation in a big way. Additionally, the industry caters to nearly 450 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) affirming the PM’s vision of “Sabka Prayas” during the Amrit kaal period.
The minister added that the share of India in the global space economy by 2030 is going to rise 4 times in comparison to 2021. In 2021, the Indian space industry contributed 2 per cent to global share. This is expected to rise to 8 per cent by 2030 and further to 15 per cent by the year 2047.
According to the minister, the private sector can offer new solutions to development of advanced small satellites, geospatial technologies, orbital transfer vehicles and so forth. Further touching upon the contribution of science to Indian society, he added that private players will play a huge role in sectors such as agriculture, environment, governance etc.
The minister also directed officials about the transfer of technology (ToT) by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to the private players. So far, there are 403 such transfers by 2020 and additional 50 by the NewSpace India Limited (NSIL)/Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) till June 2024. The minister further enquired and discussed the next 100 days plans of ISRO and its scheduled launches. This includes the NISAR programme which is a joint Earth-observing mission between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and ISRO. NASA and ISRO are providing two radars that are optimised each in their own way to allow the mission to observe a wider range of changes than either one alone.
Furthermore, the minister also recognised the role that private players will play in the research and development (R&D) part of the space sector.
